French Quarter street repairs top planned uses of $30 million from convention center

Nearly two-thirds of the $30 million that the board of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center-New Orleans has pledged for infrastructure improvements in a proposed downtown "hospitality zone" would go to repair 100 blocks of roadway in the French Quarter, Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration has announced. The work, estimated at $19 million, would include installing permanent pavement, striping, and mill and overlay work.

The payment also would cover the repair of 1,500 street lamps, the inspection and cleaning of 1,500 catch basins, and the conversion of 300 sidewalk crossings to ramps in the French Quarter and Central Business District.

Across both neighborhoods, all streets would be inspected and re-striped to mark parking zones, bike lanes, crosswalks and traffic lanes. Additional bike racks also would be installed, all street signs would be cleaned or replaced, and the intersection of Julia Street and Convention Center Boulevard would receive drainage and lighting upgrades.

Despite the detailed to-do list, it remains unclear whether the convention center money hinges on the Legislature's approval of a proposed "hospitality zone" in the French Quarter, Central Business District and Warehouse District.

After weeks of wrangling over a bill that state Sen. Ed Murray authored at the request of Landrieu and tourism leaders, the bill in recent days has undergone a major rewrite, including shifting control over the proposed new taxes to the City Council rather than a board of tourism leaders and mayoral appointees.

The latest draft also removes Faubourg Marigny, Treme and the 7th Ward from the zone, mayoral spokesman Ryan Berni said, though he would not provide a copy. The bill is expected to be discussed Thursday by a Senate committee, he said.

Backers of the initiative, including the mayor, have stressed that one-third of the new revenue from proposed tax hikes on restaurant and bar tabs in the zone and on hotels citywide would help finance maintenance of the improvements that the convention center money would finance. The rest would go to tourism marketing.

But the City Council and voters citywide would have to approve the tax increases, and council members would have to sign off annually on future spending. Meanwhile, the mayor and convention center officials still have not signed a cooperative endeavor agreement laying out the terms of the payment, Berni said.